16, Norfolk Road B15

A Grade II Listed Building in Edgbaston, Birmingham

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Listing Text

Offices, formerly a house. Designed by Yeoville Thomason and built in 1854-7 for James Heacock Bodington. The house was greatly extended in the early-C20 for Sir William Waters Butler.The building is of red brick with stone dressings and has a slate roof. There are two storeys with attics and basement.

EXTERIOR: The entrance front, facing west onto Norfolk Road, has three symmetrical bays at its centre, which appear to have formed the principal part of the original house on the site. To the corners are quoins (which recur elsewhere around the building) and there is a band between the floors. At the centre is a prominent porch with Corinthian pillars and pilaster responds. This has a richly-decorated later-C19 mosaic floor. To either side of it are tripartite windows with brackets supporting a projecting frieze and cornice. The first has three sash windows with margin glazing and projecting heads, as at ground floor level. The deep eaves are supported on a series of small wood brackets which may be part of the later alterations. Recessed and at left are later additions, two bays of which repeat the established pattern of the entrance front. To the right and recessed is the conservatory of eleven bays with arched heads. The garden front has at far left the single-storey ballroom block which has a bay window with curved corners and similar windows to each flank. It is joined to the house by the conservatory, six bays of which show on this front. The main body of the house has, at left, a prominent circular turret to its left corner. This has sash windows divided by pilaster strips to ground and first floor, but at attic level are panels of stonework, small windows and shaped gables with spiked ball finials. To the top is a shaped lead dome of faintly ogee profile rising to a central decorative finial. At right of this are tripartite windows with French windows lighting the dining and drawing rooms and at right again a projecting wing with colonnade to the ground floor which connects to the billiard room wing which has an angled oriel window to the first floor and a prominent skylight to the roof.

INTERIOR: The remodelling of the house in the early-C20 considerably altered the plan of the original building and created a spacious reception and staircase hall with passageways through to the rear of the house and to the conservatory and ballroom. Only a single room from the earlier plan appears to have survived, to the right of the front door. This has a remodelled fireplace with oak surround and copper panels in relief. The entrance hall has richly carved panelling with a dentilled cornice below the plate shelf, deeply carved door surrounds and a fire surround with carved overmantel. Leading off from the hall are separate lavatories for men and women. Both have richly decorated tiling to the walls and floor and stained glass windows which include peacock motifs. The ballroom has a segmental vault, divided into panels by bands of plaster moulding and grilles to the centre, apparently for gas lighting. The bay windows to the north, south and east sides of the room have fixed, upholstered bench seating with radiators underneath. To the west side is a fireplace, flanked by doors from the conservatory. This has wooden panelling with carved wreath, ribbon and drops to the overmantel. The dining room has plasterwork and panelling in a French style, which extends through to the turret, and the drawing room has Jacobean motifs to the ceiling with strapwork decoration and pendant bosses and a similar fireplace with overmantel, featuring caryatids. The staircase is sumptuously moulded with heavy newels and balusters, all of which are richly carved. The ceiling is also heavily moulded and has three stained glass skylight panels to the centre. The first floor landing has scagliola columns with Ionic capitals and there is a large stained glass window facing west. At first floor level, one of the bedrooms has Adamesque ornament to the ceiling and walls, including harebells and rinceau ornament and joined to it is a dressing room with similar decoration. The first floor billiard room has a deeply coved ceiling with plaster swags and ribbons in high relief and a central skylight of three panels. Several other of the bedrooms have strapwork or Adamesque decoration including fire surrounds. This listing does not include the single-storey garage block, canopy or two-storey service wing to the north of the house.

HISTORY
The house was built in 1854-7 for James Heacock Bodington, a miller, and Douglas Hickman attributed the design to Yeoville Thomason. Bodington sold the house in 1860 and it was later known as `Southfield'. In the early-C20 it was bought by Sir William Waters Butler, of Mitchell's and Butler's the brewers, who carried out extensive additions and alterations. The house continued in domestic use into the C20 but has been used during the latter part of the C20 and up to the present as offices.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
No. 16, Norfolk Road is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* It is a Victorian house of c.1854 which retains its handsome entrance front of three bays.
* Extensive re-modelling in the early-C20 included a suite of reception rooms and further bedrooms which retain many of their sumptuous fixtures and fittings.
* The rooms and their fixtures give a clear impression of the functioning of the house and the life of its inhabitants.

Listing NGR: SP0397285423

This text is from the original listing, and may not necessarily reflect the current setting of the building.

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